Falling
by halffictionalprincess
Summary: Will they fall from the broom or in love?
1. Falling In Trouble

A/n- a) Happppppppy Newwww Year you guys! May it be full of happiness, love and books!  
>b) So, this is a story set in the summer before sixth year at The Burrow!<br>The concept came to me when I was rereading the HBP and this line came to my attention-  
><em>Harry remained within the confines of The Burrow's garden over the next few weeks. He spent most of his days playing two-a-side Quidditch in the Weasleys' orchard (he and Hermione against Ron and Ginny; Hermione was dreadful and Ginny good, so they were reasonably well-matched)<em>

**Chapter One- Falling In Trouble.**

One look at her face and he knew he was in trouble.

Harry Potter had never pretended that he could understand girls. They were, according to him, a completely different species. He would never be able to comprehend the way their minds worked.

Though, after knowing women like Minerva McGonagall and Tonks, he'd learned never to underestimate them. He'd also learned never to try to understand their motives.

But the one member of the female specie he thought he could understand, only a little, was Hermione Granger. Well, after knowing her for six years, He'd better.

So, the moment she'd walked into his and Ron's room, he'd known that the something was up.

It had been the expression on her face that first clued him in. And the polite smile on her face, that Harry knew was fake, had confirmed his doubts.

"Hey, mione" said Ron, looking completely oblivious to what Harry could see very clearly. Trouble.

But the cold smile that she shot him shut Ron up.

With a panic and fear stricken face, Ron looked at Harry, finally clued in the severity of the situation.

But Harry could only shrug and mirror his expression. He knew something was going to happen and he was very sure that he wasn't going to like it.

The small smile on Hermione's lips told him that she'd seen the whole exchange.

She walked to the foot of his bed and stopped.

"Harry, could I see you outside for a minute?", she asked. Then without waiting for an answer she said "I'll be on the roof" and then, she walked away.

Harry stared at her retreating form, wondering what was up. Her complete ignorance of Ron, and her request to speak to him alone made no sense. Combine that with the angry and confused look on Ron's face and what do you get?

You get a Harry Potter in trouble.

Harry saw Ron huff and go back to the quidditch magazine he was reading. He longingly stared at the book in his lap that he'd been reading, then got up and walked out the door to see Hermione.

All the while praying to make it out alive.

Harry reached the roof and went to sit down next to Hermione, who was staring at the sky.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" she said, never even bothering to look at him.

Though he knew there was no way that Hermione had called him here to talk about the night, he nodded right along. He knew there was no way Hermione would tell him what was going on until she wanted to.

"You played really well today, you know. Sorry that I lost the game for us , though" she said, in a voice that would seem nonchalant to anyone else, but Harry wasn't just anyone. He knew hurt and guilt when he saw it or in this case, heard it.

But it took him a moment to realize that she was talking about the Quidditch game they'd played against Ron and Ginny that afternoon. What he didn't understand was why she was bringing it up.

"That's okay , Hermione what-" he started, but she cut him off  
>"So, Harry I've been thinking" she began with a determined expression on her face. Now, coming from someone else that they'd been thinking wasn't frightening, but when Hermione Granger said it, every instinct in Harry's body screamed at him to run and hide.<p>

Oblivious to his terror, Hermione continued "that maybe Quidditch isn't such a waste of time after all; it's an interesting game, really. And maybe, I should consider learning how to play, you know"

"That's great, Hermione." Harry said, equally surprised and confused.

But then the expression on her face changed, and this wasn't an expression he liked. It was the same she'd had when she'd had the idea about making the Polyjuice potion in the second year, and the one she'd had when she'd told him about her idea for the DA.

It only meant one thing. Trouble.

"And since I really don't know anything about it, and books haven't been helpful at all, I think I would need a coach. And I was wondering if you would teach me, since you are my best friend and the best quidditch player I know. " Hermione said a lot more, but Harry didn't hear it.

He'd suddenly understood what it was all about and it made him want to punch someone.

Probably Ron.

Hermione was still speaking when Harry cut her off.

"Hermione, If this is about what Ron said. You know you don't have anything to prove, not to him, not to anyone, you are perfect and you don't need to change for anyone." Harry said, quietly.

But he knew he'd said something wrong when Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry-" he began, but was cut off by a rib crushing hug.

He heard voices coming from Hermione's mouth, and he couldn't tell if it was laughter or sobs.

"Thank You, Harry" said Hermione, as she pulled back and swiped her eyes "It isn't about what Ron said, well maybe it is a little, but mostly it's about me wanting to get over my fear of flying." She said, and then she turned to look at him with a hopeful look of her face.

Uh oh.

"So, will you teach me?" she asked.

And no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't say no to her big hopeful eyes. And that was exactly why he found himself saying.

"Yes, of course"

And then his ribs were again being crushed by her arms.

"Thank You!" she exclaimed, and Harry couldn't help but smile right along with her.

"So, we have to begin lessons right away" she said, and Harry felt dread rise along his spine at the planning gleam in her eyes "And we cannot tell anyone, okay? So we have to practice without anyone knowing, so we'll practice in the morning. 4am okay with you?" she asked, and all He could do was nod.

"I ordered a broom today, and I borrowed to Hedwig so he could bring it to me and not in front of everyone. And I think it should be here tomorrow, so we can begin lessons by day after, okay?" she asked, and again he just nodded.

But something from what she said stood out.

"You already ordered a broom?" he asked.

"Yeah, the newest cleansweep" she said, "I heard it comes with safety gears"

"But how did you know I would say yes?" Harry asked, wondering if he was that predictable.

She had a mischievous look on her face when she said

"You are my best friend, Harry. Of course I knew you'd say yes."

Apparently he was that predictable.

Hermione left a few minutes later to help Mrs Weasley with the dinner, and Harry sat there wondering how much trouble he'd fallen into.

A/n- Second part will be up soon. Hope you liked it!


	2. Falling on the Ground

_**A/n- a) I'm so sorry for the delay, but it was my birthday last week (I'm sixteen, YAY) and the world got a bit crazy.**_

_**b) Thank You for the reviews and follows on the first part, I hope you won't be disappointed! **_

_**c) Can you tell me if the Maze Runner is a good series, my friends bought it for my birthday, and I want to know before I start it! Thanks!**_

**Disclaimer- Don't Own Harry Potter!**

**Chapter 2- Falling on the Ground**

Many things had woken Hermione Granger up at 3:00 am before.

Exams, studying, assignments, Harry's crazy ideas, their adventures (or as she liked to call them; misadventures), nightmares, parties, crazy girls screaming about their boyfriends , crazy girls afraid of lightening and crazy girls gossiping about other crazy girls.(or as most people called them; Parvati and Lavender).

But never had she thought that Quidditch would be the reason that she'd force herself to wake up at such an ungodly hour.

"_Never thought I'd beat Harry in quidditch. Thanks Hermione."_

Ron's words rang in her mind again, but this time, instead of the initial hurt and latter rage, they filled her up with determination. She knew that Ron had just been teasing, that he didn't really think they would hurt her. He'd always used her fear of flying and inability to play Quidditch as a way to annoy her, she was sure he never ever bothered to think about how his jabs affected her.

He was sensitive like that.

Her alarm clock rang again making her fall out of the bed. As she sat up on the ground, she looked at the bed next to hers and said a quick thank you to the gods of sleep for making Ginny the kind of person who slept like the dead.

Screaming banshees could dance around her bed and she wouldn't wake up.

Hermione sighed and stood up, resolved to her fate, that she had to wake up at three in the morning.

She blamed Ron.

She quickly collected her clothes, shoes and then retrieved her brand new broom from under the bed, sending a quite prayer to the gods of flying that she didn't end up falling on the ground.

She quietly got out of the room and walked to the bathroom on her tiptoes, wary of the very creaky board. She entered the bathroom and closed the door but didn't lock it since the lock made enough noise to wake up a sleeping dragon.

A sleeping dragon? Yes. Ginny? No

She looked at the mirror and cringed. Bed hair, especially curly hair, was the worst thing EVER!  
>She washed her face and brushed her teeth, then took the weapon and looked at her enemy (read: enemy-hair, weapon- comb) and started the war, like every day.<p>

And lost, like every day.

After spending fifteen minutes and muttering countless curses, she'd finally managed to tie her hair up in a ponytail.

Then she spent another five minutes debating whether to take a shower, and then decided against it. She was going to be sweaty and dirty after playing quidditch anyway, so why take a shower now, right?  
>She changed her clothes and looked her outfit approvingly, she was wearing a black t-shirt and gray gym pants. Perfect for a couple of hours of torture.<p>

Not torture, quidditch, she reminded herself. She had decided that she was going to do this; she was going to learn how to play quidditch. Hermione Granger had never backed down from any challenge in her life, and she wasn't going to start now. She replayed Ron's comment in her mind again and it only steeled her resolve, but unlike what Harry thought, what Ron had said wasn't the only reason she wanted to learn how to play quidditch. It had been the look of disappointment on harry's face and the knowledge that it was because of her. Harry was Hermione's best friend, and she would go to the ends of the earth for him, and if her learning quidditch could ensure that she never had to be the one to disappoint him, she would do it.

And besides, Hermione wanted to see the look on Ron's face when she kicked his ass.

Her reverie was broken by the sounds of what she recognised as footsteps coming from outside. She collected her discarded clothes and tried to think of an excuse for being here at three thirty in the morning. When she couldn't think of any, she tried to run out of the bathroom, hoping whoever it was, wasn't just outside the bathroom.

And ran smack into a hard wall of muscle.

Hands reached up her elbows to stead her, as she lost her balance and started falling. She looked up to see who it was and her eyes were met with eyes green like leaves on a spring morning. He was staring at her too, his hair messier than usual, but she didn't know if he could see her as he wasn't wearing his glasses. And she was struck with how beautiful his eyes looked without them.

Realizing her hands were on his, gulp, bare chest, she took a step back and he immediately released her elbows. But he was still staring at her, a surprised look on his face.

"Hey" she said, wondering when the eleven year old boy she'd met on the train had started to look like _that_. He was lean but muscular and if she was right, and she was pretty sure that she was, there was hint of abs forming.

"Hey" he replied, then shook his head and wore his glasses that she realized had been in the pocket of his lowers.

She felt disappointment at the sudden barrier between her and his eyes. She wanted to reach up and take them off. She also wanted to run her hands over his chest. Maybe even kiss his pecs and then-

This time it was her who shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind.

"So..." he said, and she realized he wanted to go inside and she was in the way, so she stepped aside.

"I'll see you outside?" he asked, turning around.

Hermione nodded, all the while trying hard not to stare at his chest.

He closed the door and Hermione quickly stepped down the stairs, trying hard not think about hhow much she wanted to march into that bathroom.

What was wrong with her today?

She thought about it as she threw her clothes in the laundry basket and got out of the burrow.

She ended up chalking it up to sleepiness.

She stood outside taking in the scene in front of her, the moonlight and sunlight intermingled, and she was enthralled by the beauty of nature. There was enough light that they could play and she was thankful for that.

A few minutes later the door opened, and came out Harry, wearing a t-shirt and sweats, just like her, and his firebolt in his arm.

"Hey, you ready?" he asked, approaching her, with a smile on his face.

"Yeah" she said, aware of the tremor in her voice.

He looked at her, then shook her head and started to walk behind the burrow, towards the empty field they'd decided to practice in, with Hermione following him.

When they had reached far enough, so that they would be out of sight from the burrow, they stopped. Her feeling of dread increased with every step. And as if he could read her mind, he turned around and said "Hey, don't worry, you'll be okay" and Hermione believed him.

"Okay now" he said, after they'd stopped "Quidditch is about learning to trust your broom and your instincts, you have to stop being afraid and trust me and your brook to keep you safe, okay?"

And Hermione could only nod.

She mounted her broom, and kicked when he asked her to. She felt her anxiety rise as the broom did.

"Trust your broom "a voice called and she looked at Harry a little above her on his firebolt. The serious expression on his face made her smile, and decided to trust her broom- and him- to catch her if she fell.

Her broom rose slowly, and in a few seconds she'd reached a height of about three stories, when it stopped. Hermione suddenly felt exhilarated, as she saw the sky above. She was still scared of heights, but as she looked at the look of pride on Harry's face, she felt as if she could do anything.

"Okay, Hermione" Harry said, "We are going to work on your catching, I'm going to throw this ball, okay?" He said, and Hermione nodded.

He threw the ball and Hermione had to dive a little to her left to catch it, and as she tried to do so, she misbalanced, and her broom stumbled. Hermione felt dread rise up her spine, but before she could straighten, her leg slipped and suddenly in a moment she was flying without a broom.

And in the next moment she was falling on the ground.

A/n- Hope you guys liked it, please review!


	3. Falling And Saving

A/n- Again, sorry for the late update. I've been a wreck this past week!  
>Thank You to everyone who reviewed, I love you guys! :D<p>

This chapter touches upon something that I cried a lot over, Sirius's death, and how harry deals with it!  
>With a little help from Hermione of course.<p>

Hope you like it!

Disclaimer- Nope, don't own HP! Only an Hp printer

Chapter Three- Falling and Saving

Seeing her fall took away five years of his already –as he suspected- short life.

It would be an understatement to say that Harry Potter had been scared before, but as he saw his best friend fall off her broom, he felt fear unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He sped off his fire-bolt, as fast as it would move, and spent the next three seconds hoping he reached her in time.

He did.

He managed to break her fall and catch her before she hit the ground and breathed a sigh of relief as she settled on the broom behind him.

She was breathing hard, probably still in shock. Then he heard what sounded like sobs and turned to her in horror. But to his surprise she wasn't crying but laughing, not an Oh-thank-god-I'm-alive- laugh but a did-I-just-see-Draco-Malfoy-turn-into-a-ferret-laugh.

"Why are you laughing, Hermione?" he asked, bewildered.

Hermione pointed to something a little above them and when Harry looked in the direction that she was pointing towards, he too couldn't control his laughter. Her broom, it looked like, was an efficient one, because even though its rider had fallen off, it was still in the air, like it'd been parked there.

Now, they were both laughing so hard, that his broom had started to shake. But his laughter stopped when he looked at her, still laughing, and realized how long it had been since he'd seen her laugh like that, all holds barrelled.

And what a mighty sound it was.

Harry was glad he wasn't standing because he was sure that his knees would've given out at how beautiful Hermione looked when she laughed. He couldn't understand how he'd been so blind, that he hadn't noticed how beautiful Hermione had become in the last year.

Hermione stopped laughing and shot him a questioning look, but Harry just shrugged, a little too stunned to speak at what he'd just figured out.

It was then that he realised that he should get them both down on the ground and make sure she was okay. He started to steer the firebolt towards the ground, when he felt her put her arms on his shoulders, probably for support, but the sudden contact made Harry lose control of his broom making it stumble, and they both fell of the broom and were on the ground.

Harry had fallen of brooms before so he knew exactly how it felt like, for a moment he was flying, weightless and in the next second he was on the ground. He sat up and found Hermione trying to sit up next to him. And the firebolt fell on his other side. Since they hadn't been too above the ground and they'd fallen on soft grass, they both were alright.

Well, physically alright, Harry's ego was a little bit bruised.

He looked over at her and saw her shoulder's shaking from the laughter she was so efficiently –not really- trying to hide, he couldn't stop his own either. And in the next moment they were both rolling around the floor laughing, literally.

Harry's stomach was aching from laughing and he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed this much. He sat up, again, and looked over his firebolt to see if it was okay.

His laughter vanished as he remembered how he'd gotten it, who had bought it for him, who he would never see again. He didn't know how, but Hermione guessed the sudden change in his and stopped laughing.

They both sat there, listening to the early morning noises of the crickets and birds, as Harry tried to stop the tears that were suddenly threatening to spill. He felt her squeeze his hand, before she said in a really soft voice "I miss him, too, you know"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to her and found her looking at the reddish sky.  
>"Yeah, I admired him, you know, the way he still had a spirit for life. Even after all he'd been through." She said, and Harry suspected that she too was on the verge of tears." I admire you too, you know, for not killing her that day. I know it must have...must have taken a great deal of self-control. I didn't know if I could do it"<p>

Harry expected to feel the rage rise up in his chest again, but this time it was a full blown fire, just some embers.

"I just..." he struggled with words, but he knew that it was time he talked to someone, and he couldn't think of a better person than Hermione "I just wish that I could have done something, saved him. It's all my fault, anyway, I should've listened to you and waited." He let out a humourless laugh "I shouldn't have let him manipulate me that easily. If I hadn't been that irrational, he would be here now, alive"

"You did the best you could Harry, I would've done the same if it had been me" she said, and he saw pain in her eyes, pain, he knew was for him "And don't you think that's how he would've wanted to go, if given a choice, trying to fight for what he believed in, avenging the death of the people he'd loved, trying to save his only family, you" she said, and he didn't know if it was selfish that her words comforted him, but he knew that it was his fault, and there was nothing he could do about it.

It seemed that Hermione knew that he wasn't convinced, so she continued.

"Harry, if it had been you who had fallen off that veil, wouldn't he have felt the exact same way that you are right now, that he hadn't been able to save his only family, his godson, his best friend's son?  
>Tell me, would you have wanted him to feel like this?" Hermione asked, in a soft but stern tone.<p>

"Of course not" he said, immediately, and then realized that Sirius wouldn't have wanted him to feel like this either.

"I miss him" he said, his throat tight "Every time I close my eyes I see him... I see him falling through that veil"

"I know you do" she said, pain evident in her voice "I miss him too, Harry. But he would want you to remember the good times rather than the bad. He would want you to live the life that he never got to"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. They spent a few moments in silence and Harry felt lighter than he could remember feeling for awhile.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm falling, Hermione. That I was on this ledge and now I'm just in the air, falling on the ground and there's nothing I can do." He said, voicing out something he'd never told anyone before.

But he knew he could tell her.

"You won't fall on the ground, Harry" she said, locking her eyes with his "Because I'll always be there to break your fall"

A/n- Hope You guys liked it! Please review!


	4. Falling Asleep

**A/n-Okay, I'm going to be a spinning record, and repeat, I'm sorry for the delay, life is crazy, blah blah blah. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are awesome. I'm sorry I can't reply/pm you guys, but that is only because I'm super lazy.**

**Hope You like this one!**

**Disclaimer-Maybe I could own Harry Potter. And maybe cows could fly.**

**Chapter 4- Falling Asleep**

She was sure that not even the great hall was this noisy at dinner time.

Hermione had grown up watching television shows with loud, Italian families eating dinner and people talking at the same time, but she was pretty sure that the Weasley's could out-talk anyone of them.

She couldn't hold onto a single conversation happening around her, and could barely understand a single word being said.

But then again she was sure that with ten people talking simultaneously, this had to happen.

She looked around herself trying to catch thread of what everyone was talking about, Fred and George, it seemed, were trying to flirt with Fleur, or trying to annoy Bill, same thing. Bill, in turn, was getting annoyed, and was trying to win his fiancé back by flirting with hr right along, and Fleur looked flattered and confused. Hermione could barely stop herself from snorting the food out at the twin's antics.

Ginny, it looked like, was being interrogated by her parents, about her new boyfriend, Dean Thomas, Ginny rolled her eyes, after every question her father asked, and Mrs Weasley looked like she was going to laugh. Hermione smiled at the stern expression on Mr Weasley's face.

He was very protective of his "little girl".

Ron was alternating between the two conversations, offering gags whenever Dean and Ginny were mentioned, and trying to flirt with Fleur along with Fred and George, he wasn't very good at it, but he tried, he was also stuffing his face between words.

Her eyes landed on the person sitting between Ron and Ginny, and she couldn't help but smile at the bewildered look on his face. Harry had spent the whole evening flying around with Ron and Ginny, Hermione had begged out to study, and Harry had let her stay inside with a knowing grin on his face.  
>Since, he'd been the last one to get inside, he'd been the last one to shower, so he'd also been the last one to arrive at table, and by then the conversations were in full swing.<p>

He was looked around confused, then met her eyes, and raised his eyebrows as if to ask "What is going on, here?"

She shrugged, trying to say "I don't know."

He shook his head, as if to say "Oh god, this family" and he started to eat, she couldn't help but smile, because yes, this family was unbelievable, but she loved them this way, and she knew he did too.

"Hey Fleur, I was wondering if you were tired?" asked George.

"No, why?" Fleur asked, with a confused look on her face. Hermione strained to listen to George's answer over the noise. But surprisingly, well, not really, Fred replied.

"Because you've been running around in our minds all night."

Hermione set down the glass of water she'd picked up, because she was pretty sure that if she drank water now, she would surely snort it out. Her shoulders shuddered from laughter, and she put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Fleur had a disgusted look on her face as she told Fred and George off for their abysmal taste in flirt lines, and Bill just looked plain outraged.

A couple of twinkling green eyes caught hers, and she could see Harry's expression mirroring her own, his mouth turned into a disgusted-but-impressed grin. He rose his glass of butterbear in the general direction of Fred and George, as if raising a toast to them and she did the same with hers.

"...so can this Dean Thomas boy not get a girl his own age?" Hermione heard Mr Weasley say, and saw Ginny roll her eyes, for possibly the twentieth time that night, and say

"He's only one year older than me, dad"

Hermione shook her head and decided to concentrate on the delicious chicken.

Soon they had all finished eating, and since it was their turn to clean up, Fleur and Bill stayed behind in the kitchen, as everyone else moved to the living room. Mr Weasley turned on the radio and everyone took seats, Hermione sat on the futon, with Ginny on her side and they all sat in silence, listening to a Celestina Warbeck song.

Hermione had closed her eyes, she felt tired, her body was not used to waking up at 3:00 am in the morning. She felt someone watching her and opened her eyes to see both Harry and Ron staring at her, looking concerned.

"Tired of all the studying, Hermione" Ron asked, but Hermione knew better than taking offence, teasing was just how she and Ron communicated.

She wasn't saying it was healthy, but they were what they were.

"Yes Ron, my brain needs to be used to get tired, unlike yours" she replied, she knew that her reply would pacify Ron, and it did. But, apparently, the monotone note was noticed by Harry. He stood up at sat next to her, and asked in a very quite tone.  
>"You okay?"<p>

"Yeah, just a little tired" and despite her waning energy, she managed a smile.

He nodded and she closed her eyes again, floating in the state between consciousness and sleep, after what seemed like a minute, or fifty, she was woken by a high pitched sound, she opened her eyes and looked around.

Everything looked crooked, had the earth fallen off its axis? , she wondered, but as consciousness regained, she realised, her head was tilted, why was it tilted? She lifted her head and realised that somehow she'd rested her head against Harry's shoulder, who was now looking at her with an amused expression on his face. She felt too awake now, as she figured out that the high pitched sound came from the radio.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked Harry, and saw that Ginny was now sitting between Fred and George, the three of them plotting something.

Well, that couldn't be anything good.

"About 5 minutes" said Harry, "Don't worry; I told everyone that studying made your mind tired"

Hermione laughed at his usage of her words, and he grinned.

The song on the radio changed again, and she heard a loud "Oh". Everyone stopped talking and looked at Mrs Weasley, who looked embarrassed to be the sudden centre of attention.

"What's wrong, Mom?" asked Bill, who Hermione realised was back from the kitchen after cleaning up, and by the sudden lack of lip gloss from Fleur's lips, Hermione was sure that, cleaning up wasn't all that they'd done.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Mrs Weasley, now smiling softly at her husband, who was smiling back  
>"It's just, that, this is the song we danced to, at our wedding."<p>

Hermione smiled at the obvious love between Mr and Mrs Weasley, hoping she found that someday.

You know, if she survived the war.

One moment, she was dreaming about true love, the next she was flying across the room on a happened so fast that it took Hermione a second to register what was happening, but after a moment of shock she noticed that all the furniture in the room had been pushed to corners and the centre of the room was completely empty, besides Mrs Weasley.

Everyone looked shocked, well, everyone except Fred and George, who Hermione gathered, were the reason behind the sudden redecoration of the room.

"Well, if you danced to this song at your wedding-" started George.

"The why don't you dance to it again?" completed Fred.

Mrs Weasley looked ready to burst a vein, until Mr Weasley stood up from his chair, which had been moved too, by the way, and walked towards her with a stretched out hand.

"Come on, Molly" he said.

And soon they were off, dancing, between catcalls and applauding, Mr and Mrs weasley danced to the song that they'd danced to on their wedding. But they continued to dance as the song changed, and were joined by Bill and Fleur, and before she knew it, she was being pulledonto the makeshift dance floor.

Everyone at the Burrow danced that night for almost an hour.

Hermione danced with Ginny, Mrs Weasley , with Fred and George together and separately, she even danced with Ron,but after about seven songs, the day was catching up to her and she felt dead on her feet.

It was then that she noticed Harry, trying to dance awkwardly, with no partner, so despite everything; she walked to him, and pulled him by his arm, silently forcing him to dance with her.

"Come on, Hermione" He said, reluctant "You know I don't dance, I break toes"

"Well, it's good that I know how to fix them, isn't it?" she said, and he smiled, finally agreeing.

They danced for a while, Harry wasn't as bad as he said, and he didn't even step on her toe once.  
>After a while of dancing, Hermione rested her head on his shoulder again.<p>

"You are not bad, Potter" she murmured.

"Thanks, Hermione" he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

Hermione closed her eyes, feeling uncomfortably comfortable in his arms, and thought "I'll just rest my eyes, for ...for a second... only a...second..."

A few hours later, Hermione Granger jolted awake in her bed, suddenly startled by the sound of the alarm clock she'd charmed so that only she could hear it. It was 3:00 am, Hermione raked her brain, and the last thing she remembered was dancing with Harry.

She shut off her alarm clock, and rested her head on her pillow, wondering how she'd fallen asleep in Harry Potter's arms.


	5. Falling 21 Times

**A/n- Okay, I'm going to apologize again, for being late again. Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/followed/or favourited you guys don't know how much it means to me!**

**Disclaimer- Yeah, sure.**

**Chapter 5- Falling 21 times.**

"I don't know what hurts more, my _butt_ or my _pride_." she said, as reclined on the grass instead of standing up.

Harry Potter couldn't help but laugh at her absurd comment, as he grounded his own broom and sat down beside her on the ground, his mind now full of visions of her very delectable butt. The part of him that was still under the control of his brain recoiled, at the thought of thinking about Hermione like that, but the other part, the one that could actually see how delectable her butt is, thought that it was a very good idea.

He shifted uncomfortably, and started to recount the list of Quidditch fouls he had memorised, in his mind. After a few moments, when he was sure he could look at her without thinking of the delectableness of her butt, he turned his head to his right, and all thoughts evaporated as he saw the disappointed look on her face.

"Hey, its okay, you'll get better." He said, feeling helpless, and praying that the tears he could see were threatening to fall, didn't.

"Will I, Harry?" she asked, managing to look angry and defeated, at the same time, "It's been two hours and I still can't manage to stay afloat on my broom for a 100 yards, at a decent speed, without stumbling or falling off. You know I think I should just stop. I mean, who am I trying to kid? I'll never be able to play quidditch like Ginny can or you can."

"I won't let you give up." He said, immediately.

"Why not?" she asked, "It's useless anyway."

"Hey, look at me." Harry said, when she turned away from him, and continued when she looked at him, "Remember in the fourth year, when I was failing miserably at the summoning charm?" he asked, and she nodded, "Did you let me give up? You didn't because you knew I could do it. So I'm not going to let you give up now, because I know you can do it. And you remember how many times I failed at a stupid summoning spell, flying is a lot harder. Soon, I know, you'll be flying better than Viktor Krum." He grinned, as he completed his sentence, and was awarded with a laugh for his cleverness.

He stood up, pushed out his hand for her to take and said "Come on, the Hermione Granger I know wouldn't give up after failing twenty times, she would get up and try for the twenty first time"

She smiled, took his hand and stood up. Getting back on her broom she took off and within five minutes, she fell for the twenty first time.

Okay, so this wasn't working out.

Harry saw her get up and kick her broom out of frustration. He decided that it was time to try something different.

He walked towards where she was standing with her head in her arms.

'Hermione" he said, and she looked up, with a miserable expression on her face, "Look when you do magic, you trust your wand, right?"

She nodded.

"Then why don't you trust your broom when you fly?" He asked the same question he'd asked her twenty times before, and while the other times she'd just shrugged, but this time, she lashed out.

"Because brooms hate me, they are stupid and they hate me, they are out of control and they move so fast and they hate me. Don't you remember what happened in your second year? You almost died on your broom. They can get defective and they can kill me. And did I mention that all the brooms in the world hate me." She screamed in one breathe and looked miserable when she finished.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at what she said, he knew it wouldn't help but he was laughing. It was pretty clear that Hermione was afraid of brooms and flying. She swatted his arm but, at his laughter, she too was smiling. Then he realised something, Hermione had to let her fear go, and try to trust. Harry knew that she trusted him and his flying. An idea was forming in his head, he wasn't sure if Hermione was going to like it.

Wait, he _knew _she wasn't going to like it.

"Oh no, whatever you are thinking, stop thinking it." She said, and took a couple of steps from him.  
>But he was too far gone, and he knew it would work.<p>

"Come on, let's make sure that brooms don't hate you." he said, and walked towards the cleansweep lying on the ground. He picked it up and gave it to Hermione, and motioned for her to sit on it, and then he sat behind her.

"What are you doing?" she turned her head back and apprehensively asked.

"Teaching you how to fly" he said, and kicked off the broom.

In a few moments they were in the air and he moved them towards a cluster of trees. When they reached it "You are going to navigate us through these trees." He told her.

Hermione looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Um, no" she said "We'll hit a tree and die and no one will find us, and everyone would blame me for killing The Boy Who Lived"

"Hermione, you trust me, right?" he asked, and continued when she nodded "Then trust me to make sure that none of us die, okay?"

"Okay, but how am I going to do this?" she asked, "I can't fly in a straight line, how am I supposed to navigate through this?"

"By closing your eyes." He said, and she now looked at him as if he was crazy.

"I will tell you when to turn, alright?" He continued, "You are scared of heights, so we'll take that out. You stumble when you look down, so you are not going to look"

"Harry I don't-" she started, but he stopped her.

"Don't question your teacher, Granger. Now, close your eyes." He said, grinning at her.

She stared at him for a moment, probably wondering if he needed a visit to St Mungo's, then deciding better of it, she turned around and closed her eyes.

"Okay, now move straight" he told her, and she steered forward.

It was then he realised that maybe this wasn't the best idea. They both were sitting really close, her back was almost sticking to his chest, and his hands were wrapped around hers. He tried to ignore his reaction, chalked it up to being near a girl, but he couldn't help but smell her hair and almost groaned at the sweet smell of roses. It reminded him of last night, when she'd fallen asleep in his arms, dancing. He'd carried her to her room, making excuses for her sudden weakness.

When he'd laid her down on her bed, she'd been making the sweetest snoring sounds that made him smile. She looked like a little girl when she was asleep, and it'd taken all his strength to let her go. It'd taken a lot to walk away and not watch her sleep. Because let's face it, that's a little creepy, and not something friends did.

He was broken out of his reverie by a tree, that coming near them, or more appropriately, they were moving towards it with a striking speed.

"Left" he screamed, and tilted with her towards the left.

They managed to escape the tree unscathed, and Harry sighed out of relief.

"Harry, pay attention, will you?" scolded Hermione, apparently realising how near their save had been. But she sounded more confident now, and she was flying well too.

As they moved, their speed increased as Hermione's confidence and rose, and Harry could feel her trusting her broom. Soon they were out of the woods, and it was then he realized that Hermione had opened her eyes, and was now smiling madly as she flew her broom with a new confidence and ease.

After a few minutes she brought then to the ground and hopped off, she was laughing and chanting "I did it, I did it". He caught her enthusiasm too and started chanting too "You did it, you did it"

She turned around and looked at him; she was smiling madly, when she threw her arms around him and whispered "Thank you" in his ears.

"Hey, isn't this ,what friends are for?" he said, smiling at her.

They walked back towards the Burrow and kept their brooms in the broom shed. Apparently after tripping twice on her broom, Hermione had decided that keeping her broom under the bed wasn't safe. She charmed and invisibility spell on her broom and they both walked out of the broom shed.

"We're a little late today, hope no one's awake" Hermione said, looking a little worried.

"Hey, stop worrying, no one's going to up anyway" He said, "Smile a little, you finally learned to fly after falling twenty one times, that's a cause to celebrate."

She laughed and swatted his arm, and he pretended to be hurt, which only made her laugh harder.

She opened the door to the kitchen and walked in to find Ginny, Ron and Mrs Weasley waiting for them.

Oh boy was all he could think.

**A/n- Hope you liked it. Please, please review!**


	6. Falling For The Story

A/n- Hey, I'm not that late this time, so I'm not going to apologize. A big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed or favourited, I love you!

Disclaimer- I'm not J.K Rowling, I'm not even Serious Rowling!

Chapter 6- Falling For The Story.

The best thing that could happen to her now would be the Earth opening up and swallowing her whole.

Hermione Granger remembered the time Professor McGonagall had caught her and Harry on the astronomy tower, and the same shame she'd felt then, crawled up her spine now. During the six years, she'd spent at Hogwarts, she'd gotten pretty good at keeping secrets, well, if you were Harry Potter's best friend, you had to be good at secret keeping. Anyway, though most of the times those secrets helped them, sometimes they came back to bite them in the arse.

This felt like one of those times.

Hermione had decided to keep her quidditch training a secret because she'd known that though everyone would be supportive and encouraging (the weasley family was awesome like that), but the Weasley boys would also take a lot of pleasure in mocking her. She knew it was their way of showing acceptance, but she just didn't want to be teased about this. Truth be told, Hermione knew there was a very good chance that she would fail and she didn't think she wanted anyone to know about it.

Besides, the image of Ron's face when she beat him was the only force driving her through this torture of training.

But right now, as she stood there, she felt her heart sink at the thought of everyone finding out about it. She saw the looks on everyone's faces, Ginny had a suggestive smirk on her face, and Hermione knew it meant nothing but trouble, Mrs Weasley looked scandalous and Ron just looked plain enraged.

"Where...," Ron started in a dangerous tone, then stopped to take a breath as if to calm himself down, "Where were you two?" he completed, but Hermione couldn't understand why he was so angry.

"Yeah, this is a story I would love to hear." Said Ginny, from her seat on the dining table, looking amused.

Gee, Ginny, I'm so happy to be the source for breakfast entertainment to you, thought Hermione. Not.

Hermione looked at Harry, who was standing right beside her, and was shocked to find that he looked completely calm.

"It's a very short story Ginny." he started, and Hermione was sure that if looks could kill, she would've killed Harry by now, wondering if he was going to rat her out, she listened intently,  
>"We just went for a walk." He said, and she exhaled the breath she'd been holding, and mentally kicked herself for doubting Harry.<p>

But apparently, his 'story' wasn't good enough to fool Ginny.

"At," she started, then checked the clock on the wall, "6:30 in the morning?" she asked, with a sceptical look on her face, "You better tell us the long version of story, Harry."

And if looks could kill, Ginny would be dead too.

Harry, with his huge saviour complex, jumped in to save her from the questions again.

"I just.. I just had a nightmare and decided to go out for some fresh air; Hermione heard me walk out and came out to see what was wrong. So, we went for a walk." He said, then grinned and added "Is this a long enough story, Ginny or should I add a couple more chapters?"

Ginny threw her head back and laughed, Mrs Weasley smiled and even Ron calmed down a little. With what had happened to him, it didn't surprise anyone that Harry might have nightmares.

"Well then, come on and sit down then, I'm making some eggs and bacon, you must be hungry after that walk." Said Mrs Weasley, and beckoned for them to sit down and they obliged.

Hermione and Harry sat down next to each other and Hermione softly squeezed Harry's hand to express her gratitude and he shot her a small smile.

Soon, they all had plates full of bacon, eggs and toast in front of them. Though, Hermione didn't really feel like eating, she nibbled on her toast and eggs. Ron was gulping down his food like a starving man and Hermione couldn't help but gag at the way he ate. Ginny and Harry laughed at it, and Ron shrugged and kept on eating.

Ginny and Harry talked about the latest happenings in the Quidditch world and Ron added a few things in between bites. Hermione listened intently, because she didn't really have anything to add to the conversation.

But something strange was happening, because every time she looked at her plate, the amount of bacon seemed to decrease but, the weird thing was she hadn't even touched it.

The mystery of the disappearing bacon was solved quickly, as Hermione realized that the thief was the person sitting next to her. She looked at Harry to find him eating a piece of her bacon, and he managed to look sheepish while eating.

Hermione just raised her eyebrow to ask her question, and Harry started explaining at once.

"I finished mine, and I saw that you weren't eating yours, so I decided to help you a bit." He said, then snagged another piece of bacon from her plate and smiled at her as he ate it.

"So, you were stealing my bacon to help me?"She asked, trying really hard to stop herself from smiling back, she loved it when Harry got flustered, and she wasn't going to lose an opportunity to get him all red.

"Stealing? No, I wasn't stealing Hermione." he said, fake-seriously "I was just taking it, and yes if you call taking something from a friend to help said-friend stealing, then I'm guilty as charged."

Hermione could no longer control her laughter after that sentence, and after a moment Harry started to laugh too, their laughter seemed to surprise Ginny and Ron who had been having a heated argument about the Holy-head Harpies.

'What are you two laughing about?" asked Ginny, looking confused.

"Nothing." Hermione managed to say, after she'd calmed down, "Nothing at all."

Ginny shook her head and looked amused at their behaviour while Ron looked a little miffed.

Hermione put all her bacon into Harry's plate and finished off her eggs and toast. This wasn't ignored by Ginny either, and Hermione was suddenly afraid of the look in her eyes.

Her fears were confirmed as they were walking up to their room and Ginny suddenly stopped just outside, to pick out a grass blade from Hermione's hair.

"Grass in your hair, Hermione?" asked Ginny, "Were you two walking on the ground or rolling around?"

Hermione was horrified, and couldn't help but pray, as she entered the room, that Ginny fell for her story.


	7. Falling For His Best Friend

**A/n- Okay, so I know that the last chapter was shorter than usual, but my finals are on my head and I have to study...**

**And I also know that many of you are hoping for a catfight between Ginny and Hermione, but I'm sorry, because that isn't going to happen. But I hope you will like it more than you would have if there had been a catfight!**

**I love everyone who reviewed and am going to blame exams for my lack of personal replies!**

**Chapter 7- Falling For HIS Best Friend.**

If there was something Harry Potter knew about Ginny Weasley, it was that the girl had balls of steel, eyes of an eagle and sense of mischief of Fred and George.

And he'd known the moment he'd heard his name through their door that she'd use all three on Hermione.

He quickly ran to his room to retrieve the cloak of invisibility and managed to sneak into their room before Ginny closed their door. He thought about telling Hermione he was here but he didn't want to risk being found out and increasing Ginny's suspicions.

"So, are you going to tell me what is going on between you and Harry?" Ginny asked, as she sat down on Hermione's bed so that the two girls were facing each other. Harry wondered how many rules of decency he was breaking by eavesdropping on their conversation like this.

Probably all of them.

The look on Hermione's face either meant constipation or panic, and considering he'd eaten half of her breakfast, he was pretty sure it was the latter.

"There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Harry." Said Hermione, stressing on the 'nothing', and Harry was pretty sure that it convinced absolutely no one.

"Yeah, okay, falling asleep in his arms while you dance, secret conversations, walks in the middle of the night? That doesn't exactly say nothing, you know." Said Ginny, rolling her eyes, looking sceptical.

Harry wasn't sure how Hermione was going to reply to that, and smiled at the sudden redness of her cheeks.

"I fell asleep because I was tired, it didn't have to do anything to do with Harry, and there are no secret conversations, it was two friends talking. And considering the walk, Harry already told you the story behind it." Hermione replied and Ginny again rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I'll take your word for all that, but tell me something else, Hermione. Why isn't there anything going on with you and Harry?" Ginny asked, suddenly serious.

"What do you mean?' asked Hermione, looking as confused as Harry felt.

"I mean why aren't you two together, like you obviously should be?"

Hermione looked so shocked, that it felt like a little blow to Harry's pride, and to top it, Hermione started to laugh after minute of shock.

Maybe it was just his ego, but the laugh sounded a little forced to him.

"Okay, Ginny, have you been drinking firewhisky? Me and harry? That idea is so ridiculous that it's almost funny." Said Hermione, " Look, I know you are really happy with Dean and you want me to have a boyfriend too, but is Harry the only boy you can think of?" she completed, but as much as Harry understood that he and Hermione were friends, her absolute dismissal of the idea hurt.

Hermione laughed again, but Ginny still didn't look convinced.

"Yes Hermione, Harry is the only boy I can think of, for you!" said Ginny, and Hermione stopped laughing "Do you know why? Because he is the only boy I've seen you be completely real with. He is the only boy who can make you laugh and make you cry. He is the only one who can make you angry and calm you down. He looks out for you and you look out for him. He is the only person you let take care of you."

Harry looked at Hermione and the defeated expression on her face was a blow to his gut.

"Ginny," she started, "Harry is my best friend, of course we care for each other, but that doesn't mean that we want anything more than friendship."

"Yes it does," Ginny insisted "Because Hermione I don't look at any of my best friends the way you look at Harry. You may not be ready to admit it, but you have fallen for your best friend."

Something in Hermione's expression told Harry that it might be true, but he shrugged that thought off as soon as it entered his mind. Hermione couldn't have fallen for him. He was just imagining things. He wouldn't...shouldn't give thoughts like this another moment.

He also wouldn't give another moment to the way his hear jumped up and down at the mere idea of Hermione falling for him.

"Ginny, tell me something," said Hermione, looking determined and fierce. Truth be told, it was a look that terrified Harry to death.

Ginny might have balls of steel, but Hermione had nerves of iron and the brain of a fox, Harry grinned in expectation of what was to happen.

"Why do you think, Harry is right for me? I mean he is absent minded, has a death wish and is probably the least romantic boy I know." Then after a beat, she added "Well the second most, Ron being the first"

Harry couldn't help but stare at Hermione, second most romantic he could understand, and after everything that has happened saying that he had a death wish was almost an understatement, but absent minded? What was all that about?

"Well you are right on all three things, "started Ginny, Harry was getting more miffed by the minute. Why was this turning to a bash-Harry-Potter-fest? "He is absent minded, isn't he? Even a little stupid sometimes. And he doesn't know anything about girls, does he? I mean, you have to look at what happened with Cho and you know Harry Potter isn't boyfriend material. What was I thinking? Of course you are right Hermione"

Harry knew what she said should've made him angry but for some reason it didn't. Probably because something told him that Ginny Weasley wouldn't change her tone for no reason. And he realised her true intentions when he saw the angry look on Hermione's face.

Well played, Ginny Weasley.

"Harry isn't stupid Ginny, "And Hermione played directly into Ginny's plans "He is very smart, he just is very easily distracted that's all. And what happened with Cho wasn't his fault. He doesn't know a lot about being a boyfriend, but he is the sweetest and most caring person I know. He's courageous and intelligent and selfless. Who wouldn't want a boyfriend like that? He..."

But Hermione trailed off when she saw Ginny grinning, and suddenly Harry felt as if the room was in the centre of the sun.

"You," said Ginny "You don't want a boyfriend like that Hermione."

"He is my best friend, Ginny" said Hermione, "Even if I did like him, and I'm not saying that I do, I can't... won't let anything that stupid ruin our friendship."

Ginny held Hermione's hand and Harry couldn't help but notice that despite the sad look on her face, Hermione looked more beautiful than any veela.

"And anyway," said Hermione, looking up at Ginny "I don't steal boys that my friends like. Girl code, remember?"

And then she winked at Ginny.

Harry smiled at her obvious attempt to lighten the mood, and couldn't help but feel a sense of victory when he saw Ginny blush.

"Oh shut up," said Ginny, her cheeks as red as her hair, "I was eleven years old, what do you expect from eleven year old girls?"

The girls laughed and Harry's heart fluttered at the sound of Hermione's laughter. And that thought scared him more than anything else.

He shouldn't be feeling this way. Hermione was his friend, but then why did he suddenly want to kiss her? He had never wanted to kiss any of his friends before. An image of his kissing Ron popped into his mind and he cringed. Never, ever going to think about that EVER again.

But suddenly, what he felt for Hermione seemed a lot more than friendship.

"Hermione," started Ginny, pulling Harry out of his reverie, and he was grateful for it, "but if you are falling for him, and I'm not saying that you are, would you never tell him? Just so that you don't lose your friendship, and never know what could've been?"

Harry held his heart and waited for Hermione's reply, even though something inside him already knew what she was going to say.

"Yes" said Hermione, with some hesitation, "I wouldn't tell Harry even if I fell for him."

Harry slowly walked out of their room, and pulled over his cloak, in the empty hallway and started to walk up to his room.

He was on the stairs when it hit him, and he almost fell off.

Ginny was right, but she just had people wrong, because Harry didn't know about Hermione but he was pretty sure that he was falling for his best friend.

A/n- Hope you liked it, please review!


	8. Falling For Her Best Friend

**A/n- Okay, so I know it's really late, and I am sorry and I could give you a thousand excuses but I don't want to bore you.**

**And I know this is pathetic, but I was wondering If any of you Harmony shippers wanted to read some more of my Harmony stuff then these are two new Harmony one shots I wrote**

**Take A Chance- **** s/11042602/1/Take-A-Chance**

**The Name Games- **** s/11037359/1/The-Name-Games**

**Hope you guys like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or High School Musical.**

_**Chapter Eight- Falling for HER Best Friend.**_

"Just because we don't have red hair, doesn't mean we're not family, Mrs Weasley." He said with a smile.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his joke, and neither could anyone else, almost everyone at the table laughed and even Mrs Weasley smiled.

"Oh, you are family, Harry dear, but-"Mrs Weasley started to say, but he cut her off.

"It's settled then, I and Hermione are going to do the dishes tonight." He said, and then smugly continued to eat his dinner.

Mrs Weasley looked like she wanted to protest, but stopped when Hermione said, "Don't bother Mrs Weasley; Harry can be very stubborn when he wants to be, especially when he's right."

Harry grinned at Hermione, and the ever present butterflies in her stomach started to flutter again, and instead of staring at his smile, Hermione decided to concentrate on her chicken.

The current debate was about who would do the dishes, since Fleur and Bill, whose duty it initially was, were both working late tonight. Hermione thought the work they were doing was more of a romantic kind, but she decided to keep her views to herself, considering the not-so-affectionate feelings Mrs Weasley had for Fleur. Mrs Weasley had ordered Ron and Ginny, both of whom had protested saying that their duty started tomorrow and they didn't want an extra night.

And that was when Harry had volunteered himself along with her.

Since, unlike everyone else, they hadn't been assigned dish duty nights. Hermione had agreed to help, since she was used to doing dishes at her own home. Mrs Weasley had protested but, obviously, Harry was very persuasive.

A few minutes later, everyone had finished dinner and Hermione, along with Harry, started to collect the dishes and brought them near the sink.

Hermione turned on the tap and began to mix the soap with water, and saw Harry picking up the scrubber for both of them.

"You soap, I'll scrub." He said, and Hermione nodded.

"You do this a lot?" He asked.

"Yeah, whenever I'm at home, I do the dishes with my dad, because Mom cooks." She replied, smiling at the hundreds of jokes she and her dad shared when they did the dishes.

"You?" She asked, after noting how well equipped he was with the scrubbers.

"Yeah, the Dursley's don't like to do these mundane tasks on their own." He said, in a sarcastic voice.

Hermione suddenly felt sad for Harry for being stuck with those horrible people. She realized that doing the dishes wasn't a happy memory for him like it was for her. He just has to tolerate them for another year and he'll be free to live wherever he wants, she reminded herself, trying to make peace with the idea of him being stuck with them for another summer.

They both worked in silence for a while, with the water foaming up, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at how well they worked together. They didn't need to talk to know what the other was doing; they didn't need to ask for something because the other would already be handing it over. They knew each other's speed and it was very easy to work together.

It was harmonious.

Maybe Ginny had a point about them after all. Maybe she was falling for her best friend. And Maybe it could work.

Stop thinking like that, Hermione, that's the stuff crazy, is made of.

And soon, before they even knew it, all the dishes were scrubbed, soaped and ready to be rinsed.

"You rinse, I'll dry." He said.

"How about we both rinse them together? It might work faster that way." She suggested and he nodded.

He picked up some rags for them to dry, but saw that one of them was unusable anymore.

"Hey, look." He said, grinning, then rolled the rag in a ball and pointed it towards the dustbin and threw. The ball landed right into the dustbin and he pumped up his fist and said "Score."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his antics, and before she even knew it, the words seemed to flow out of her mouth, "What Team?"

And then something even more surprising happened as Harry replied, "Wildcats."

They both stared at each other in surprise, and after a beat, they both started to laugh.

"You watched High School Musical?" She asked.

"Yeah" he said, running his hand through his hair, as his cheeks reddened a bit.

Hermione bit her lip, to prevent herself from smiling at his obvious discomfort at the fact that he'd seen the most famous teen movie of all times.

Hey, Zach Effron is hot, with a capital H, don't judge her.

"So, how did your talk with Ginny go? She buy the story?" He asked, reaching for more dishes to rinse.

Now, it was her turn to blush.

"It went okay, she...Uh... she bought it." Hermione replied, and avoided Harry's gaze.

"Good, because I thought, she might, you know, presume that something was going on between us, might even wonder why we aren't together." He said, and Hermione gasped.

"You...How... Were you... Harry James Potter how do you know that?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"I...uh... slipped in, when you were talking, thought you might need some help." He replied, and Hermione presumed that he'd been using the invisibility cloak as neither she nor Ginny had seen him.

What she didn't know was whether to be angry or touched.

She just shook her head at him, and decided to go back to work, since Harry's intentions had obviously been honourable.

"So, I'm the sweetest and most caring person you know?" He asked, after a moment, repeating her words she'd said to Ginny, with the most annoying grin on his face.

Hermione blushed, and splashed some water on him, to make him shut up.

He just splashed some more on her. Hermione gasped and filled a cauldron full of soapy water and threw it on. His shirt got completely wet and he looked at her with revenge in his eyes.

Yeah, he didn't scare Hermione.

"Oh, no you didn't." He said, and filled another-bigger-cauldron to throw at her, but Hermione ducked at the right moment, and it all landed to the floor.

"Oh, yes I did." she said, after she stood up.

And that was when the Granger-Potter soapy water fight turned to world was three.

There were water tank (read: cauldrons and glasses) attacks, barricade (Read: plates) and the battleground (read: kitchen floor) was covered with blood (read: soapy water).

They were both wet to the point they were dripping, and when Hermione moved towards the sink to take some more water, she slipped on the now wet floor and slipped, when Harry started to come over to help her up, he fell down too.

"I don't know what hurts more, my _butt_ or my _pride_." He said, repeating he words from this morning and they were both literally rolling around the floor laughing in the next moment.

Which was exactly how the Weasley's found them.

They both looked up sheepishly at Mrs Weasley, who was standing a little far away. Rona and Ginny right next to her. Ron looked a little amused and suspicious while the grin on Ginny's face plus the wiggling eyebrows weren't exactly subtle.

Most surprisingly though, instead of glaring at them, Mrs Weasley was smiling.

"Now, I do not want to know why or how this happened." She said, when Hermione opened her mouth to explain, "You two need to get up and take those clothes off so that you don't get sick."

They both dutifully stood up, or tired to, in her case because she slipped again, but this time, Harry caught her before she could fall.

But as she looked in those deep green eyes of him, she had a feeling that she'd just fallen harder.

She stood with his help, and was very aware of his hand around her waist, helping her up.

"Go, now." said Mrs Weasley, and then flicked her wand to drain the water from the floor, and with another flick she'd completely washed all the dishes.

They both walked across the now dry floor, and walked to their rooms without speaking, but as they reached the doorway of her room, Hermione could no longer control herself, and started to laugh, he joined almost instantly.

They both laughed for a few moments, but her smile vanished when she found herself staring at him, and at those captivating eyes. Without knowing how, she suddenly found herself standing a lot closer to him.

He wasn't smiling now either.

His expression was unreadable as he stared into her eyes, and Hermione felt as if he was searching her soul. She had to control the urge to reach up and touch him, and something inside her wanted her to reach up and find out if those lips were as soft as they looked.

But the creaks of the staircase stopped her from making those mistakes, she took a step back, and he exhaled.

"Good night, Hermione" He said, stepping farther away, "See you at the lesson."

"Good night, Harry." She said, and watched him disappear around the bend before she entered her room.

She leaned against the door and exhaled loud enough to startle crookshanks.

"Am I going nuts?" she asked the cat, but it purred and ignored her.

Hermione sighed, and leaned her head against the door, wondering if Ginny was right, maybe she was falling for her best friend.

**A/n- Please take a moment to review.**

**P.s- I know the whole HSM thing doesn't fit with the Harry Potter timeline, but I just had to do this. SO, sorry!**


	9. Falling Raindrops

_**A/n- Okay, so I'm sorry for being late, again. God, I'm like broken record. Anyway, I hope you guys like this part. **_

_**P.s- Please don't hate Hermione, she has her reasons.**_

_**Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter even in the parallel universes.**_

_**Chapter 9- Falling Raindrops.**_

If someone had told him a couple of weeks ago that he would be lying on his bed at three am in the morning and thinking about Hermione Granger, he would have punched him in the face for saying something like that about his best friend.

Now he was having thoughts about her that made him want to punch himself.

Harry sighed and turned over in his bed one more time, thankful that Ron slept like the dead, or Harry's turning and twisting definitely would've woken him up. Harry wondered what Hermione was doing right now, probably sleeping, but a little part of him, the part that had asked him kiss her yesterday night and said that she wouldn't push him away, that part wondered if she, too, was in bed thinking about him, and being utterly and completely confused.

The image of Hermione in bed made him almost groan out aloud and that in turn made Harry want to kill himself.

It was a continuous cycle between fantasizing and self-loathing.

Harry looked at the clock and almost wished to be able to go out and teach Quidditch to Hermione again, well, they wouldn't be playing a lot, since it was pouring dragons and hippogriffs outside but at least she'd be with him. Harry had seen Hermione just four hours ago and she was sleeping in the room just below his, but he couldn't help but miss her, miss those lessons he'd hated getting up for, miss being near her.

But there would be no more lessons.

Harry's thoughts turned to this morning, when after their usual lesson, he and Hermione had sat on the breakfast table with all the Weaselys, he was trying hard not stare at Hermione as she laughed and keep his focus on his pancakes when Ron had asked if they wanted to have a Quidditch match.

"I would love to be able to beat Harry again."He'd said, making Harry want to kick him for putting a look of hurt on Hermione's face.

But before he could say anything, Hermione had spoken up, saying she felt like flying and had asked them to meet outside at around noon, and then she'd given Harry a sweet smile and had walked away with her dishes in her hand.

Harry had been sure that Hermione was ready, she was getting used to flying and it turns out that is she wasn't busy being afraid about flying, she could throw Quaffles in the goals very efficiently.

So, they met outside at around noon, two balls and four brooms all together. Ginny had looked a little unsure about the confidence in Hermione, and had nervously glanced between Ron and Hermione. Ron had looked a little too cocky, little had he known he was about to be handed his arse on a platter. Hermione had tried to appear confident but Harry knew she was a little nervous, he'd squeezed her hand before they took off and told her that she could do this, she'd still looked a little nervous to him, but she'd nodded and had taken off. Harry had known what was going to happen before they even started to play, Ron would underestimate Hermione and would put all his and Ginny's efforts on trailing Harry, and Hermione would surprise them and they would take a fall they wouldn't be able to rise from.

And that's exactly what had happened.

They'd won by a huge margin, a margin of 150 points; Ginny was grinning and congratulating Hermione on her spectacular Quidditch skills, while Ron had alternated between fuming and trying to keep his mouth closed.

Harry hadn't been able to stop looking at the smile on Hermione's face, and as much as she'd tried to act nonchalant, he'd seen through her and seen the excitement of finally defeating Ron

When Hermione had gone over to talk to Ron after the game, Harry was ready to hear her put him in his place, but she'd just shaken his hand and said 'Better luck next time'.

And then she'd walked away.

Of all the awesome things He'd seen Hermione Granger do, and that included solving Snape's riddle when she was eleven, preparing Polyjuice Potion when she was twelve, this was probably the most awesome of it all.

The fact that she hadn't insulted Ron after all that he'd said had made Harry respect Hermione a lot more than he already did. She was an enigma, and she probably had the biggest heart of them all. When she'd hugged him and whispered 'Thank You' in his ears, he'd held on to her and had never wanted to let go, but he had, he'd told her that he was proud of her and had let her go.

It was then that he'd realized it was time to stop fighting this, to stop himself from falling for her, because he already had fallen for her and now there was no turning back.

He was in love with Hermione- freaking- Granger.

Harry sighed again- for probably the five hundredth time that night – and stood up, he went to the window by his bed, looking at the falling rain. The clouds were crazy tonight, water was hurtling down fast and with the slight glow of starlight and a background of the trees around the burrow, and it looked beautiful. Harry had never been a fan of rain, but tonight he couldn't help but wish he was out there, the room suddenly felt closed compared to world outside.

It was then that he noticed her.

He didn't know how he'd missed her before, but now that he had, she was all that he could see.

Fits somehow, he thought with a rueful smile, after all the six years he'd known her, he'd seen her as a friend, but now that he had started to consider her as more, she was the only one he wanted to think about.

She stood there on the front porch, staring at the rain. He couldn't see the expression on her face, but he wished he could, because slowly she dropped the cloak she'd been wearing and walked right into the rain.

He stared as she threw her head back and her arms flew wide, as if she was trying to hug someone, her eyes were closed as the raindrops flew down her face. Harry had thought of her as beautiful before, but as he watched her spin around and dance in the rain, he didn't think the world 'beautiful' was even enough to describe her.

Hell, there wasn't a word in the English language that could describe Hermione Granger in that moment.

And suddenly he couldn't wait to be with her.

He raced down the stairs as fast and as quiet as he could, his heart racing and his pulse dancing. He finally reached down and opened the front door. She was still spinning around with her eyes closed, so he knew she hadn't heard him.

He slipped out of the house and walked towards her slowly, her eyes still closed. He couldn't help but stare at her now that he was near. Rain was beating on his body hard, every falling raindrop hitting him like a stone, he shivered from the sudden chill but even as his body went numb, all he could do was look at her.

She was breathtaking in her beauty and he couldn't tear his eyes away even if he wanted to.

"Hey," he called out, and was a little disappointed when she stopped twirling around and turned to look at him, her brown eyes wide as she looked at him.

"Hey." She said softly, and he couldn't help but walk a little closer. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are, trying to get pneumonia." He replied, and she smiled, walking a little closer to him.

"I saw you dancing, and I thought maybe you could use some company." Harry said, suddenly nervous about his decision to come down here. Maybe she wanted to be alone.

"I could go if you want me to." He replied, but was immensely relieved to see her shake her head.

"No, no, I'm happy you're here." She replied, not meeting his eyes, with a small smile on her face, and Harry's heart bloomed in his chest.

"I'm happy to be here too." He replied, dumbly, not knowing what else to say.

She stared at him, and pushed out her hand, after a heartbeat.

"Come on, let's dance." She said, and he accepted her hand and pulled her close. She seemed surprise by his actions but didn't pull away.

They started to dance slowly, to the music of the falling rain.

As he held her in his arms, he couldn't help but feel as if he had everything, he couldn't worry about what was to happen, about what had happened, all he could feel was complete and happy. He never wanted to let her go, never wanted to live without her.

He felt her lay her head on his chest, near his heart and wondered if she could feel it racing. He remembered a song she kept on humming whenever she thought no one was listening. He started to sing the song in her ear, he was barely whispering, but could feel the smile on her face, and so even though he sang like a crow, he continued to whisper words.

'_Give me a place in your heart,  
>Keep my name on your lips.<br>Miss me when we're apart,  
>And remember me on your fingertips.<br>Forever remember this night,  
>Keep on looking in my eyes and believe.<br>And know I'll kiss you on midnight,  
>On every New Year's eve.<br>It's you, yeah you, you're it for me,  
>Baby, we were made in the heavens above.<br>You're mine, and I'm your destiny,  
>And don't you ever forget it, My love.'<em>

He could feel her slightly sway to tune of the song, and when she looked up at him, with her big brown eyes, he couldn't stop himself anymore. He slowly bent down his head, giving her time to back away, if she wanted to. But thank all the heavens that she didn't, instead she stood up on her tiptoes and brought herself closer to him.

And when her lips met his, the ground underneath him slipped away.

Their kiss was soft and it was slow, he couldn't help but savour every moment, save every heartbeat in his memory. She tasted like mint, rain and Hermione and he couldn't help but feel as if he was in heaven, as if in that moment they were alone in this big wide world and nothing else existed.

But then she slowly started to pull away.

They broke apart and all the butterflies that were dancing in his heart vanished when he saw the look on her face, and understood right away what it meant.

She regretted it.

"Harry, god... I... I don't know what to say. What just happened was a mistake, it never should've happened, you and me... god I'm... I'm sorry... you and me we are friends, we're not... I mean... god." She was babbling, looking miserable, and Harry wondered that if someone listened closely, could they hear the sound of his heart breaking?

"It's okay, I... I understand, you're right, 'mione, it never should've happened. I'm... I'm sorry, I guess I'll... I'll see you in the morning." He said, not bothering to look at her, because he knew if he did, she would be able to see the heart break in his eyes and no matter what he couldn't let her blame herself for this.

He turned around and walked away, he didn't turn back when she called out his name, as the falling raindrops mixed with the sole tear that ran down his face.

_**A/n- Please, Please Review!**_

_**P.s- I've got an unhealthy obsession with rain and I think it's incredibly romantic, in case anyone was wondering why I decided to do this in the rain.**_

_**P.P.S- The next chapter will take off right from this moment on.**_

_**P.P.P.S- I wrote that song or rhyme or whatever myself, you can use it if you want to, just give me credit.**_


	10. Falling Tears

_**A/n- And the broken record spins again, I'm sorry for making you wait, I'm sorry for being so late.**_

_**And Yes, I intended that to rhyme.**_

_**But anyway, thank you, to everyone who read, reviewed, favourtied or followed, I'm eternally grateful.**_

_**I can't believe this is ending, I mean, I know it's been just a couple of months since I started this, but maaaan, I can't believe 'Falling' is ending.**_

_**I don't know whether to be happy or sad. **_

_**Both, I guess.**_

_**Anyway, hope you like this, just one more chapter to go.**_

_**Chapter 10-Falling Tears.**_

She'd faced death a dozen times but watching him walk away and not running after him was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

Hermione had read about heartbreak, read about how people, especially girls, felt during them, read about the need to cry, the missing, the ice-cream and Ryan gosling binges.

What she'd never read about was the physical ache in your chest that came when your heart broke. That gut wrenching feeling that made you want to scream and run and do anything to make it go away, to be okay again.

Hermione had thought she'd felt broken before, when that dementor had been near their compartment, when she'd seen Sirius fall through that veil, when she'd seen Harry fall from his broom and for a moment she'd thought he was dead, but nothing even compared to the loss she felt at this moment.

She felt as if someone had taken her heart and cursed it, as if she'd just lost everything and there was no way she could get it back.

She watched him disappear into the house and wondered if she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life, wondered if instead of being smart she'd been stupid.

Hermione knew if anyone else heard about what had happened they'd call her heartless, but the truth was she'd hurt herself as much as she had hurt Harry by pulling away, by saying that they were not right. Why, then, did she do it, you wonder?

Because it was the right thing to do.

Or at least, she thought it was. They were best friends, and he meant too much for her to just give up everything for these stupid feelings they were having. Love, she knew, it wasn't, because how can two people, even her, fall in love when they were sixteen? She wished she could believe, like every other girl her age that they'd get married after school and last forever, but she couldn't believe that.

She'd seen too many girls crying in the dormitory; too many break ups where not only the relationship ended, the friendship did too. And, that happening with Harry was something she couldn't afford. She couldn't afford to lose him as her friend, to lose him forever.

He mattered too much, they mattered too much.

Hermione felt the raindrops falling harder on her skin, as if punishing her for breaking the kindest and bravest and possibly the biggest heart in the universe. She deserved it, and much worse.

Hermione didn't how to survive anymore, how to live knowing what she'd given up, how to stop wondering what could've been. But she knew she had to learn how to. She didn't have another choice, she couldn't lose Harry as her friend, and she knew acting on their attraction would be the best way to kill their friendship.

Stupid-Freaking-Feelings.

She stared at the Burrow for another moment, but couldn't muster up the courage to walk in, something inside her begged her not to. So she walked to the front porch and sat down, immediately glad to be out of the rain, as the cold caught up to her.

A few minutes passed and the rain was slowing down, the clouds clearing away, she watched in wonder as the rain storm gave way to the starry night in the matter of just a few minutes. She stared at the stars and moon, and the smell of wet earth hit her and unlike earlier it didn't bring happiness. Everything reminded her of what she'd done, of everything she'd thrown away, and for the first-and the last- time, she promised herself, she let the tears fall.

She cried, until she couldn't breathe anymore, silent tears and sobs screamed louder than silence into the sky, she cried until there were no more tears left to cry, until all she had left was pain.

The tears fell until even gravity couldn't make them fall anymore.

She gasped as she felt someone sit beside her and wrapped warm hands around her; she looked up to find someone she'd never expected to find here, at this hour.

"Professor Lupin." She whispered, her words filled with surprise and unspoken question.

"Hermione, I'm not your professor anymore." He said, with a warm and concerned smile, and his familiarity just did what she thought wasn't possible anymore.

Another tear fell down her eyes, and he frowned at it.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" He asked, uncertainty filled in his voice.

Hermione's instinct was to say nothing, that everything was fine, that she just missed her parents. But she couldn't lie, not when he was so concerned and worried, not when she wanted to know if she'd done the right thing.

So she told him, told him how everything had changed in the last few days, how everything had gone wrong, how she'd fallen for the one boy she wasn't supposed to fall for.

After she finished, he only smile a sad, sorrowful smile and started to speak.

"You know the first time I met you, on that train, and Harry fainted, I thought you were going to pass out, too, out of worry for him. You were so concerned with him, as he was for you, you two were so tuned in, so aware of each other that I thought you were meant to be. I knew, back then, that you two were too young to think about that, yet, and if it was meant to be, you would find your way to each other." He said, and stopped, letting her absorb everything he'd said.

Hermione was stunned, she couldn't believe, it had been obvious then, when they were just thirteen, that it was possible that people thought that they were right for each other.

"But how can it be?" She asked, "Me and Harry, we aren't meant to be, He's my best friend but how could we..?" Hermione trailed off, wondering how to put her confusion in words.

"I don't know, Hermione, but don't you think that your best friend, someone you trust and love already would be better for you than anyone else, that He'd understand you and accept you better than anyone else ever can?" He said.

Hermione couldn't argue with his logic, but she couldn't easily give up, because how were they supposed to go back, if it wasn't meant to be, how was she, hell, how was he, supposed to just get along as they had before, it wasn't possible, and she was ready to bet their friendship on the fifty percent chance that they were meant to be, suddenly too confused and overwhelmed, she unconsciously, dropped her head to him shoulder, and looked up when he chuckled slightly.

"You know, you're not the first girl who cried on my shoulder about a Potter." He replied, a smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Harry's mother, Lily, was a great friend of mine, even when she hated James and Sirius with all her heart. So, when they were going out, well, trying to tolerate each other, anyway, she would complain about him, and cry to me, I never knew what to say, but I couldn't tell her to stop, either." He said, the smile on his face disappearing, "You remind me of her in a lot of ways, you know."

"How?" Hermione asked, suddenly wishing to distract herself from the situation about her and Harry in any way that she could.

"Well, you both have the same passion for studies, and Lily too was stubborn and a little bossy, you both have the same fire inside, and like you, she too had a huge heart." Hermione smiled at his words, suddenly sad that she'd never get a chance to know Harry's mother.

"And from present circumstances, you both have the same tendency of falling for Potter men."He added, and Hermione laughed, wondering how she was able too, when her heart still quivered from pain.

"What I'm trying to say, Hermione, is that I know the risk is steep, that there are uncertainties, that there are things you can't predict. But if I know you, and if I know Harry, then I know that this friendship means a lot to you both, and if he's willing to risk it for love, and don't tell me how it isn't love because we both know that it is, you should let your fears go, too." He said, a serious look on his face, as if he knew something about taking risks and letting fears go.

Hermione understood everything he said, and suddenly it was clear as day that she'd made a mistake, that she'd been stupid and scared and she'd let the best thing that ever happened to her go.

Her eyes started to water again, and she put her head in her arms, and asked the question out to the world in general, "What am I supposed to do now?"

But strangely a familiar voice, one she associated with messy black hair, and gorgeous green eyes, answered.

"You're supposed to talk to me."

And one last tear fell out her eyes, in hope or gratitude, she didn't know.

_**A/n-Please review, I hope you liked it!**_


	11. Falling In Love

_**A/n- Okay wow, I can't believe Falling is ending.**_

_**First of all, I'm sorry for being so late with this last chapter, but I just couldn't bring myself to write it.**_

_**Second, Thank you to everyone who had stuck with this story because no story lives if no one listens, so Thank You, and I love you!**_

_**I hope you loved reading Falling as much as I loved writing it, and I hope you will forgive me for all the mistakes I made, grammar or otherwise, I'm sorry if I offended anyone.**_

_**But Thank you, all of you, I Love you.**_

_**Disclaimer- All I own is the plot. (Of the story, not of land)**_

_**Chapter 11- Falling In Love.**_

"You're supposed to talk to me, Hermione." He said again, as he watched her stand up from where she'd been sitting on the front step.

"Harry..." His name fell out of her mouth.

Harry was only vaguely aware of anything else but her, vaguely aware of the clouds gathering up again, vaguely aware of Remus disapparating after giving him a look of reassurance.

He stared at her, her eyes red from crying, her hair wet, her clothes drenched, and she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

He unconsciously took a few steps towards her, and soon they were both standing on the same spot where he'd kissed her just a few minutes ago. It was hard to believe how much had changed in only a few minutes, he had kissed his best friend, had his heart broken, and was now standing in front of her with his heart in his hands and hope and resolve in his chest.

"Harry-"She tried to say, but he cut her off.

"No, you're not going to talk right now, I am." He said and she nodded, her eyes staring in his, "Hermione Jean Granger, I've known you for six years and I can probably count the times you've been wrong about something on my hand. And tonight is one of those moments. You are wrong about us, Hermione. We are meant to be, no matter what you think, and do you know why? Because against all odds, I've gone on and fallen in love with you."

Her mouth hung open on his blatant declaration, but Harry wasn't in the mood to hide anything.

"I'm sorry, Hermione."He said.

Her expression immediately turned to confusion, and she asked

"Sorry? You, Why?"

"For walking away, earlier." He said, she opened her mouth to interrupt but stopped when he continued to speak, "Hermione, I'm not a person who gives up easily, it's the Gryffindor in me, I guess, but I don't like to give up and do nothing, I fight. And just like we fought for the Philosopher's stone or just like we fought Umbridge, I'm going to fight for us. Though I'm probably not going to let centaurs drag you around, but I'm still not going to stop fighting for what we are and what we can be. I'm not going to stop fighting you for you. We are meant to be, and Hermione, my dad pursued my mom for six years with constant determination, and I'm his son, so I'm not going to let you walk away either."

Hermione stood shell shocked at his announcement, and Harry tried to stop himself from smiling because he knew that even if she said no tonight, she would, too, fight for them right along with him.

But his urge to smile vanished when her eyes filled with tears.

He crossed the distance between them and held her face in his palms, and asked softly.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm scared." She said, and it was barely a whisper, but it hit Harry right in his gut. He wiped away the tears that fell on her cheeks and mentally kicked himself for coming on too strong.

"I'm scared too." He whispered back, and she looked up at him with her eyes open wide.

"Hermione, you're my best friend, you are someone I've counted on for years, and blamed myself for putting you in harm's way. Hermione, Voldemort already knows how special you are to me, but when he figures out that I've fallen in love with you? He will use you against me, and I won't be able to save you. But Hermione, it's the fact that we're scared, you for our friendship and me for your safety, it just proves how much we mean to each other."

She laid her head on his chest, near his heart and he could feel her crying as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What are we supposed to do, Harry?" She asked, looking up, "I can't lose you as my friend, Harry, I'd rather die, and I know, that we won't be able to go back, I can't lose this, I can't lose us."

"You won't, Hermione. I can't promise you we would work, because I don't know what happens next. But I can promise you this; you are never, ever losing me. I'm not going anywhere. You are my best friend, and Hermione nothing can break that."He replied, his heart aching for her.

It was then that it started to rain again.

"Do you know why I love the rain so much Harry?" She said, holding her hand out to feel raindrops falling on it.

"Why do you love the rain so much, Hermione?" He asked, falling for her more and more with every moment that passed by.

"Because when it rains, it washes away all my pain, all my fears. When it rains and I can't feel anything but the water beating down on me and knowing that someone somewhere is doing the same, makes me feel as if I'm a part of a much bigger, a much more amazing story. Because when it rains, I can feel the ocean where this water once lived, I can feel every inch of my body to the point when everything goes numb. I can feel myself and not feel anything else at all." She said.

He was mesmerized by her, by her beauty and her mind. He was amazed by her depth, surprised by how much he didn't know about her, and by how much he wanted to learn everything, to understand everything.

She was staring at the falling raindrops as she spoke, but now with a smile she turned to look at him.

"I love you, Harry." She said, and he couldn't think of four words that had made him happier, "And I'm scared, but like you said, I'm not going to let this fear stop me from fighting, I'm going to fight every odd, fight every obstacle, because I love you, because you are everything to me. You-"

But he didn't want to talk anymore, he knew all that he wanted to, so he kissed her.

Harry had never felt happier, he'd never felt more at peace with his heart racing at about 100 miles an hour.

When they finally broke apart, the drizzling had turned to a full blown storm, Harry felt as if his face was too small for his smile, he put his forehead on her hers and said, "You, Hermione Granger, made me fall in love with you when you were falling from that broom, and I think it is the best way to fall in love."


End file.
